When it comes to her volleyball career at Florida State, Katie Horton will leave an imprint like no other.

It's almost Deion Sanders-like — "Prime Time," to put it mildly.

After transferring from Ohio University, the 6-foot-1 outside hitter from Wayne Memorial High had an illustrious three-year indoor career with the Seminoles as she became the first Florida State player to have 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in her career while earning first team all-ACC honors as a senior in 2016.

After playing indoor in each of her three fall seasons, Horton transitioned to the sand, where she gradually became one of FSU's all-time standouts.

Her career culminated in May, when she helped the Seminoles win the 2018 Coastal Collegiate Sports Association title and earn a runner-up finish to UCLA in the NCAA Women's Beach Championships, held May 4-6 in Gulf Shores, Ala.

Only a week later, in Hermosa Beach, Calif., Horton and her playing partner Hailey Luke (Alamonte Springs, Fla.) reached the finals of the USA Volleyball Collegiate Beach Championship before falling to LSU's Claire Coppola and Kiersten Nuss in a three-set final, 21-9, 17-21, 15-8.

Banner year

"Looking back at it now, it was a great season," Horton said. "We didn't finish how we wanted to, we got second, so that was a little tough during the moment of it. But just looking back, I don't think people thought we could make it that far in the tournament, to get second. Being to just do that with Hailey — my roommate, one of my best friends — it was just a great experience, a great way to end my college career."

Horton and Luke reached the final by upsetting the top-seeded duo of Tory Paranagua and Vanessa Freire, their Florida State teammates, in the semifinals.

Florida State's Katie Horton finished with a career record of 75-17 in beach volleyball.(Photo: MPU DINANI | FLORIDA STATE ATHLETICS)

Horton and Luke finished the year 38-5 overall, while being named to the NCAA all-tournament team at the No. 2 position. They were the CCSA Tournament MVPs as FSU captured the team title and both earned all-conference honors.

Needless to say, there was a great chemistry between the two red-shirt seniors.

"We played indoor together, we lived together, so we just know each other and the way we are," Horton said of Luke. "If we're having a rough game, we knew how to pick each other up ... we just know each other so well."

First encounter

During her high school years, while playing for the Premier Volleyball Club in Maumee, Ohio, Horton had dabbled in beach volleyball.

"I played for it a little bit, but that was just, like, an indoor player trying to play beach," Horton said. "So when I got here, I really learned that indoor and beach are two separate sports, just with how you play it, the learning from it and everything. Beach, you only have two players, so you have to do everything. Indoor, I was an outside (hitter), so I just had to pass and I had to hit. In beach, I still have to pass and hit, I actually have to set, communicate more with my partner."

Katie Horton (left) and playing partner Hailey Luke finished with a 38-5 record and were the USA Volleyball Collegiate Beach Championship runners-up.(Photo: FLORIDA STATE ATHLETICS)

After leading Wayne Memorial to a pair of Class A district titles and helping Premier to back-to-back finishes in AAU nationals while earning All-America honors, Horton went on to enjoy a productive freshman season at Ohio University, where she ranked second in kills (312) while helping the Bobcats to a 27-6 record and their 10th Mid-American Conference title in 11 years.

After Ohio coach Ryan Theis left to take the Marquette job, Horton was given her release following a series of appeals with the NCAA and granted immediate eligibility to play at FSU during her sophomore year.

On the move

"When I was looking to transfer, I was just looking into schools where they had both," Horton said. "When Florida State got ahold of me, it was an easy choice, because they're so high in both indoor and beach level."

Florida State beach head coach Brooke Niles said that Horton, who finished 75-17 overall during her beach career, was able to make the transition through hard work.

Katie Horton, in three seasons, is the only player to have 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs during her Florida State indoor volleyball career.(Photo: FLORIDA STATE ATHLETICS)

"It's really, really hard what Katie did, because normally we have players that will red-shirt for a year in beach and try and play beach and indoor," Niles said, "It's a lot different and a lot of people quit or don't find success. But Katie was able to stick with it as well as one of her best friends on the team, Hailey Luke. She turned out to be one of our most consistent players this year and helped us get to that national championship game."

As a fifth-year senior, Horton was able to concentrate on beach volleyball full time starting during the winter semester of 2017.

Joy to coach

"She is just a tenacious competitor," Niles said. "Obviously, she has some physical gifts. She's about 6-1 and jumps and hits at a high point of contact. But she's a really quick learner and her competitiveness kind of pulls her through a lot of situations."

In her four seasons with FSU's beach program, Horton brought many intangibles to the table.

"Off the court, she's really light-hearted, kind of a jokester," Niles said. "She's just really fun to be around. They called she and Hailey 'the grandmas' of our team, but that's not how she acted off the court. She put a lot of energy into things. She was really helpful in terms of training the freshmen to fall into the system at Florida State. She's definitely a leader and was an unofficial team captain on our team. But she's a great kid. She gets the job done. She's the type of player I'd want on my team a thousand times over."

Horton, who made the all-ACC academic honor roll twice, graduated with a degree in sports management from FSU's College of Education.

Less than a week after her collegiate eligibility ended, Horton and Luke entered a $150,000 AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour event in Austin, Texas, where they made it to the finals of the qualifier draw, only to lose in three sets.

Horton has also played in the Dig the Beach Volleyball Series in Florida, but her pro career has been shelved for the time being with an injured right labrum. She is scheduled to undergo a procedure next week.

Injury setback

"Sadly, I took a bad dive," Horton said. "I've been having problems with my shoulder, but rehabbing it. But over the summer, I fell on it pretty rough and I had to get an MRI and I'll need to get a little surgery to fix it."

Horton has been told that her timetable for recovery could be up 12 months.

"I'm hoping it doesn't take that long. It all depends how my body does, how I heal," Horton said. "I've never had surgery before, so I don't know how easy I am recovering. It's all kind of played by the month and see how I feel."

Horton's original plan was to turn professional and play indoor in Europe.

"I want try and do that because I've been playing indoor for the longest and that was, like, my passion before I started playing beach," Horton said. "But I want to try that for a season and, if that goes really well, I'll keep doing that. If not, then I'll come back to the (U.S.) and try make my name in beach."

During the summer, Horton has also been working at summer volleyball camps at Florida State and with local clubs.

"My goal when I retire playing is coach college, so I figure working some camps, helping out with the clubs around here to get a better understanding of coaching aspect of the sport now," Horton said. "But hopefully, I can make a good run and be a pro."

After completing her five-year career at Florida State, Horton now feels somewhat of a void.

"The team, having that family ... I like having everything planned for me," she said. "Like, I knew what I was doing every day ... I'd had to lift, I had class, I had workouts, like, every single day. I knew what I was going to do and now I have so much free time that I'm, like, 'OK, let's go work out, let's go do something,' because I just can't sit around."

Contact Brad Emons at bemons@hometownlife.com. Follow him on Twitter: @BradEmons1.